A New Identity
by ms.fredweasley
Summary: After a grocery shopping accident, Ginny loses her memory. She wakes up thinking the war is still going on. What happens when she finds out she has a son and that her brother is dead? -Post DH
1. Avalanche

**I finally got another Harry Potter fic started! Oh how I missed my British world! I really hope this fic can be as successful as my other HP one!**

**So here's the thing: I can't get all the credit for this idea. I got the idea for this fic from the book ****Remember Me**** by Sophie Kinsella. I am not copying it, that's just where the idea came from.**

**So this first entry is kind of like a prologue, but it has a title. **

**And, Let's begin!!

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_**A New Identity**_

**Avalanche**

"Push!" little James Potter called. Ginny Potter nonchalantly pushed the grocery store cart holding her one year old as she looked over her grocery list. James gurgled in delight as he glided through the aisle. At the moment, Ginny was searching for the soup section to buy some chicken noodle soup for her husband, Harry. Harry was currently at home suffering from a cold, and apparently, for him, chicken noodle soup was the only cure. Ginny tried convincing him to use one of the safer and more effective magical remedies, but he insisted on sticking with his muggle upbringings.

This would also explain why Ginny did a lot of her shopping in a muggle grocery store. When she was younger, she never had to do any of the shopping. Her mother or father would do it, and when they were unavailable, one of her brothers would be stuck with the job. Harry, on the other hand, almost always did the grocery shopping for his aunt and uncle; "The Dursleys" or "Harry Potter's Muggles" as they were most commonly called by the wizarding world. So, he was accustomed to muggle stores, and in turn, Ginny became a muggle customer as well…at least to an extent.

Thankfully, Ginny found the canned food aisle and began strolling down.

"Hmm, a sale on alphabet soup?" Ginny said to herself. She debated on getting it or not. True, Harry had been stubbornly insistent on chicken noodle, but how could she give up such a great deal? It was three cans for the price of two! Surely alphabet soup would suffice. Either way he would get his hot soup.

As she was having this mental debate, she heard a thump. James let out a squeal. Immediately, Ginny turned to comfort him. After all, she didn't want him to start crying and make a scene. He was waving his hand, apparently pointing at something behind her. Suddenly, the ground began vibrating. Ginny whirled around and was faced with a row of shelves lined to the top with thousands of cans, swaying forward and back. The cans were wobbling as well, threatening to topple right on to her, James, and everyone else standing in the aisle. Instinctively, Ginny reached for her wand, but stopped herself before any of the muggles could catch a glimpse. Suddenly, someone screamed.

"LOOK OUT!!" she heard. And Ginny looked up and the shelves tilting closer and closer to her. If she didn't move quickly, they would be crushed. She swiped James, who was oblivious to what was going on, out of his seat and was pushed down by someone. That's when things began happening too fast for her. She heard clunks of metal hitting the tile, and felt someone crouching protectively on top of her. James was screaming, cans were crashing, and Ginny felt a sudden sharp pain swallow her skull until she was consumed by blackness.

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**FYI, this first entry is SUPPOSED to be short, so I don't want to hear any "Why is it so shooort???" Ok?**

**All following chapters will be longer, I promise. ^_^**


	2. Flood

**Thank you so much to all of you who put this on your alert lists!! I love you guys! It really shows your interested!! =D

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**Chapter One: Flood**

"Oh, it looks like she's waking up."

"Ginny? Gin, can you hear me?"

Ginny opened her eyes and was blinded by an intense white light. She heard a steady beeping, but couldn't tell what it was. She closed her eyes and opened them again. There were two cloudy people in front of her, one hovering over her, and the other standing next to the…was it a bed she was on? It was an awfully hard bed. After blinking a few more times, she was able to focus on the person in front of her.

Her heart skipped a beat. Gazing into her eyes was Harry. She gave him a weak smile, and he grinned back in relief. Her body warmed at the sight of that smile.

"Hello, Dear." It was then Ginny noticed the woman standing next to her bed. Ginny looked to her left and took in the woman. She was a tall woman with thin, light brown hair. She had hazel eyes and a warm smile. She was a tad bit overweight, but it didn't look like it bothered the woman. Who was this woman? She spoke again, with a smooth, comforting voice, "My name is Anastasia Winebacker. I am your nurse."

"My what?"

"Er, Anastasia," Harry cut in, "could I perhaps talk to Ginny alone for a moment?" He had an uneasy look on his face. Ginny looked from Anastasia to Harry, dazed.

"Of course," the nurse said, walking toward the door, "I'll get your doctor, Dear." She left, leaving Harry and Ginny alone. Immediately, Ginny began questioning him.

"Harry, what's going on? Where am I? What happened?"

"Calm down, Ginny," Harry coaxed, "You're in a muggle hospital. I couldn't get there in time to take you to St. Mungo's."

Ginny looked at Harry quizzically, "Get where? What happened to me?"

"You− you don't remember?"

"Don't remember what? What happened?!" What could have happened that got her into a hospital? Images of near death situations flew threw Ginny's mind and she grew frantic.

"Calm down, Ginny," said Harry, taking her hand. Her hear fluttered a little, but she became calm. Once she got herself under control, he continued, "You had an accident. We'll talk about it when the doctor comes in. He can also explain to you all of the medical stuff."

Ginny nodded and they both fell silent. He was still holding her hand. She studied it before laying her eyes on Harry's face. He always had such a comforting face, even when they were in dire situations. In her first year at Hogwarts, when she woke up in the Chamber of Secrets, the first thing she saw as Harry's face smiling down at her. Even though he was dying right before her eyes, she found comfort in his eyes. It was one of the things she loved the most about Harry.

Although, there was something different about him as studied his features. She couldn't specifically pinpoint a certain detail, but it was the way his face held together that wasn't what she was used to. He looked…older, aged. It was hard for her to describe, but there was definitely something different. Then Ginny noticed something that made her giggle.

Cocking an eyebrow, Harry questioned her little outburst.

"What?"

Suppressing more giggles, Ginny muttered, "Since when do you have 5 o' clock shadow?"

Harry felt his face and with a quick chuckle, he replied, "Since I've been in here worried sick about you."

Ginny blushed as she laugh quietly again to herself. Never before had she seen Harry with facial hair. Quite frankly, Ginny didn't think it suited him, but she said nothing more.

After a few seconds of an awkward silence, Ginny noticed that none of her family was there.

"Where's Ron?" she wondered aloud to Harry, "or my parents for that matter?"

"Ron's at work and your parents are at home. We finally convinced them to go home and get some rest and—"

"Wait," Ginny interrupted, holding up a hand, "Ron works?!" She looked at Harry in disbelief.

Harry looked back at her curiously, "Er…yes." When her expression didn't change, he shook his head and stood up. As he did so, he explained, "I should probably send a patronus to your parents. They probably haven't slept all night, worrying about you." He began walking toward the door.

"Was it really that bad?" Ginny asked hesitantly.

"Ginny," Harry stopped, turned, and walked back to her, "you were passed out all day yesterday." With that, he kissed her forehead and left the hospital room. As he walked out, a man with a clipboard came in. He was most likely the doctor, Ginny assessed. He was middle aged with a receding hairline and a huge grin.

"Hello Mrs. Potter!" he said in a seemingly naturally loud voice, "I'm Dr. Nusbom. How are you feeling? You took quite a nasty spill there."

"Oh, did I? Well, I'm feeling mostly fine, although I am a bit dizzy," she said, noting her vertigo, "and just so you know, my last name is Weasley, not Potter." She laughed just at the thought.

"Are you sure? That's not what's written here," he said, looking back at his clipboard. He shrugged and looked back to Ginny, "Well, we can sort that out later. Our first priority is your health. Now you said you were feeling dizzy?" As he said this, he out the clipboard down and took out a flashlight. He annoyingly began shining it in her eye.

"Yes, at times the room seems to be spinning." Right after she said this, Harry re-entered the room.

"Hello, Doctor," he said, nodding his head to Nusbom, "How's everything going?"

"We're doing alright, Mr. Potter," Dr. Nusbom paused for a second, looked Harry right in the eye and inquired, "Your name _is_ Potter, correct?"

Harry looked quizzically at the doctor as he took a seat on the other side of Ginny and replied, "Yes…"

The doctor looked at Ginny, then once more at Harry before continuing, "I am just asking Mrs. Weasley here a few questions. She did have head injuries, so we need to assess if there was any mental damage."

"Mental damage?!" Ginny exclaimed, "Dr. Nusbom, what happened to me? I still have no idea of what happened."

"Well, Mrs. Weasley, yesterday morning you went grocery shopping. Do you remember that?"

"I was…shopping?!" Ginny was taken aback, "Why on earth was I _shopping_?"

"You were getting my chicken soup," Harry piped up, "Remember, I was sick?"

Ginny just stared at Harry, not sure with what to say. She settled on, "Harry, have you been drinking too much firewhiskey?"

"Ginny, what are you talking about?!"

"Okay, obviously this isn't getting us anywhere," Dr. Nusbom cut in, "Let's go about this a different way. Ginny," he looked right at her, "what is the last thing you remember?"

"Erm…" Ginny thought hard. Everything was really fuzzy. Nothing was really coming to mind until…she remembered. "Well, the last thing I remember is…" she stopped herself, unsure whether or not to tell Harry.

"What is it?" Dr. Nusbom said, leaning closer. Harry moved forward as well. They both looked really concerned. She decided to just say it. Harry should know.

"Fine," she said, folding her arms, "I kissed Collin Creevy." She tried to make her voice sound satisfied. She tried not to make eye contact with Harry, but she had to take a peek at his face. His face was completely blank, as if he didn't register what she had just admitted. She looked at the doctor, who looked completely shocked.

After a few seconds, Harry's mind returned to earth and he whispered in a hurt voice, "You-you're cheating on me?"

Ginny's face turned crimson, but this time in anger, "What are you talking about?! We broke up! I didn't know I needed your permission to date another boy!" Ginny was yelling now, and her heart monitor was beeping rapidly, but she didn't care.

The look Harry gave her was a mix of confusion and pain, "What are _you_ talking about?! We never broke up. We've been married for three years for Merlin's sake! What did I do wrong? Have I been spending too much time at the min−office?"

Ginny gaped at Harry. What was he talking about? What was going on? She wasn't married!

"I don't remember having a wedding at age 13!"

Harry just stared at her as if she suddenly started speaking Japanese.

"Er, excuse me," Dr. Nusbom interrupted, looking at the two, "but it appears that Mrs. We… er-Potter has lost some of her memory."

"She what?" Harry whispered, looking at the doctor, appalled.

"I WHAT?" Ginny looked from Dr. Nusbom to Harry. Then she asked a question, fearful at what the answer might be, "H-how old am I?"

Dr. Nusbom looked at Harry, who grew a sudden interest in the floor tiles. Ginny stared at him, growing impatient. This was important information!

"Well?!"

"Erm…" Harry hesitated, looking up at her. She folded her arms again, waiting for the answer. Finally, he closed his eyes and said quickly, "You're twenty-four." Harry let one eye open to check that Ginny was still conscious. She was, but it looked like she could go out any second.

"I…I'm…t-twenty-four? How is that possible?"

"How old did you think you were?"

Ginny looked at him. It looked as though she was on the verge of tears. She said quietly, "S-sixteen…"

Harry was astonished. He was at a loss for words.

It was Dr. Nusbom's turn to break the silence, "I think I should leave you two alone for a little while. I need to look back at the brain scans we took." He walked out of the room.

As soon as his footsteps diminished, Harry looked back at his wife and asked, "Gin, are you okay?" She looked distant.

Finally, she said in a hoarse whisper, "I thought we− er I was still in school…sitting in the common room with Collin. But now I'm _twenty-four_?!"

"Yeah, and we… we're married…" As he said this, Ginny shot her gaze in Harry's direction. He was looking past her. It looked as though he was having a flashback, "We—"

"Ginny!"

Harry and Ginny looked to the door of her hospital room to see a tear-stricken Molly Weasley rush in. She was holding a baby boy that Ginny didn't recognize. Molly reached over the hospital bed and embraced her daughter.

"Oh, Ginny, are you alright?" Molly looked Ginny up and down.

"Yes, Mum, just a bit surprised."

Molly heaved a sigh of relief and handed the baby to Harry, then looked back to Ginny. Ginny took a good look at her mother. She was the same height, but a tad bit thinner. There were a lot more wrinkled on her face, and her hair was streaked with white.

"Mum, you look so…" She felt it would be rude to say old, so she stuck with, "…different."

Molly smiled, "Well, of course I do. I've been staying up all night for the past two days. What with worrying about you and chasing down that little one," she gestured to the baby in Harry's arms. The boy had jet black hair, amber eyes, and the most familiar face. Ginny looked from Harry to the baby boy.

"Who…" Ginny was beginning to get a headache with all this new knowledge. She hated having to figure everything out. She wished there was some kind of "This is What You Missed in the Last Eight  
Years" book she could read.

Suddenly, the boy looked at Ginny and smiled. Instantly, she recognized the smile. She knew this smile, she had dreamt about it for the past four years— well, the past four years that she remembered. It was Harry's smile. She glanced once more at Harry, then back at the baby.

"Is this our…" she looked back at Harry, "This can't be our…"

"Mummy!"

As James Potter squealed that word, Ginny Potter fell back onto her pillow and fainted.

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**I hope you guys had as much fun reading that as I did writing it!**


	3. Tornado

**I would like a big round of applause to all of you who put this on your alerts or reviewed! You guys are awesome!

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**Chapter Two: Tornado**

There was something damp pressing against her forehead. Ginny awoke with a start.

"Wh-what happened?!" She looked around her room. Looking down at her with concerned faces stood Harry, Anastasia, and her parents.

"Oh, Ginny," Her mum said with a sympathetic tone, "you fainted."

"But why did I—" Before she could finish, it all came flooding back to her: the hospital room, Dr. Nusbom, Harry…and the baby. It was then Ginny heard the quiet shuffling in the corner of the room. She whipped her head around and saw the baby, playing on one of the chairs. Then realization dawned upon her, like a storm cloud falling out of the sky and surrounding her. She turned to her mum and said in a somewhat horrified voice, "…I'm a mother!"

Molly said with a laugh, "Of course you are, Ginny! You didn't forget _that_, did you?!"

"Yes, Mum, I did!"

Molly immediately silenced her laughter. "You're not serious, are you Ginny?"

Now Harry stepped in. "It's true, Molly, Ginny doesn't remember being a mother. The accident lost her eight years of her memory. She thinks she's still sixteen."

"Well now I know I'm not sixteen," Ginny put in, trying to make herself seem less like an idiot.

"You don't remember a thing in the past eight years?" her dad spoke up.

Ginny shook her head, "Not a thing." Suddenly, Ginny was hit again with realization, "Wait, it's been eight years! What happened to—"

"Anastasia," Harry said loudly, concealing what Ginny was about to ask, "When is the soonest possible time Ginny could come home? There are some things we would like to fill her in on."

"I understand, Dear," the nurse said, "in a couple of days she can go. We just need to make sure she will be perfectly healthy before she can leave." Anastasia picked up her tray and left. As soon as she was gone, Harry hastily turned to Ginny.

"Gin, I know you have a lot of questions, but can you please wait until we get home? I promise I'll answer any questions you have then."

"But—" Harry gave her a stern look. She sighed in defeat, "Fine."

"Ginny," Molly piped up, your father and I are going to the Burrow to get some breakfast. We didn't eat anything in the rush to see you. Will you be alright?"

Ginny nodded and gave her parents kisses when they bent down to hug her. Then they were gone.

After they left, Ginny remembered a very important question, "What about him?" she said, pointing at the baby, "I don't even know his name yet."

Harry looked over at the baby and smiled, looking back at Ginny, "His name is James, you know, after my dad. He's one year old. You can hold him if you want." Harry went to pick James up, and brought him over to Ginny's bed. As James was set to stand on the bed, he became excited at the sight of her. He gurgled in delight. Ginny couldn't help but beam at the sight of him. He was just so darn cute! Ginny, not having any younger siblings, had never really been interested in babies, but there was something about this baby that spurred an attraction. She suddenly wanted more than anything to hold the baby, hug, nurture and protect him. It seemed that memory loss didn't affect the bond between mother and child.

As Harry held James out for Ginny to take, she was suddenly nervous. What if she held him wrong? She had never held a baby before. People always said to "watch the head", but what the heck did that even mean? Hesitantly, Ginny placed her hands under James' arms and let him stand in front of her.

He beamed at her and began picking his legs up and down, as if he was marching. Ginny turned to Harry for an explanation.

"He likes it when you bounce him," he said, putting his hands on hers so they were both holding James, "Lift him up and down like this," and he pulled James up a few inches, and back down onto the blanket. Ginny followed suit and James giggled with pleasure. Ginny laughed as well. Looking into his gleeful, innocent face, Ginny felt at peace. When she was playing with James, listening to his juvenile laugh, it was like there never was an accident, no hospital, no brain damage, no evil.

As fast as the joy came, it was gone. James was fussing, and to Ginny, it looked as though he was about to explode. She stopped the bouncing, afraid she had hurt him, and he let out a wail. Ginny panicked. She had no idea what to do. What was wrong with him? She turned to Harry.

"Here," he said, taking the screaming baby, "he probably needs a diaper change." Ginny let out a sigh of relief. It was just a dirty diaper.

As Harry was about to walk out of the room, he said, "Maybe when they let you out of your bed, I'll teach you how to change him yourself."

"Hooray," Ginny mumbled, letting out a bitter laugh.

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Ginny spent three more days in the hospital. Every day, Anastasia came in and took some blood out of Ginny's arm, in a rather annoying way. Later in the day, Doctor Nusbom would do things called "brain scans" where he stuck circular disks with wires attached to them to Ginny's head and watched a television draw squiggly lines. Ginny didn't know what any of it meant, but it apparently helped the doctors.

Ron came to visit her once, but before he could say a word to her, Harry went to him and mumbled something too quietly for Ginny to understand. She didn't really like being kept in the dark about everything, but she was patient. She would keep Harry to his word about giving her answers when they got to the Burrow. Ginny was also disappointed that none of her other brothers came to visit, but when she asked Harry, he avoided the question by coming up with a rubbish excuse.

Apparently, the grocery store accident occurred a Thursday evening. She was unconscious from then to Saturday morning. Finally on Wednesday, she was allowed to go home.

Once she and Harry entered through the front door of the Burrow, they were greeted with a surprise.

"Welcome home Ginny!!" Her father, brothers, Fleur and Hermione stood in the living room to greet them. Immediately, Ginny was bombarded by hugs and questions.

Hermione was the first to reach her, "Ginny! How are you? I am so sorry I didn't visit you! I just couldn't get out of work. Do you really not remember anything?"

"Yes, I completely lost my memory," Ginny said, getting used to the idea by now. She looked Hermione up and down. She was a bit taller than before, but her face looked exactly the same. It was her hair that was different. It wasn't long and wild anymore. She cut it so that it rested on her shoulders, and it was straightened. The look suited her really well.

Next was Ron. He just gave Ginny a hug and asked how she was feeling. They had already had their reunion in the hospital. After Ron came Fleur.

"O' Ginny! I am so glad you are a'right!" As they embraced, Ginny was shocked. Fleur didn't have much of an accent anymore. And she looked pretty much exactly the same.

Charlie stepped toward her and pulled her into an aggressive hug. "God, Gin, I've missed you so much! When I heard you were in the hospital, I got here as soon as I could. I'm so sorry I haven't been around."

Without really responding, she let go and moved down the line to Bill.

He embraced her with his one-of-a-kind-Bill-hugs. Ginny had been looking forward to this. When she was younger and he would come to visit, she would run up to him and jump into his arms, and he would just hold her and hug her in a protective way. She supposed every oldest brother did this, but she loved it nonetheless.

"Hi Ginny," he said quietly.

She laughed, "Hi Bill."

Once Bill moved out of the way, George threw his arms around her.

"Gosh, Gin, you _had_ to have lost your memory? You could have at least done something cool, like get your hand cut off."

"George!" Molly screeched.

George shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry."

"It's okay," Ginny said. She broke apart from him and expected to be attacked by Fred, but met an unexpected surprise. It wasn't Fred, it was Percy. Ginny flushed with anger.

"What is _he_ doing here?!" She said coldly. Instantly, Percy had a hurt face, but she didn't care. He deserved to be hurt.

"I…live here, Ginny," he said.

She turned to her mother. "What is he doing here?" she said a bit quieter.

Molly looked uneasy, but it was Arthur who spoke up "Percy, maybe you should take your sister upstairs. You two need to talk."

Ginny turned back to Percy, who nodded and motioned her to follow him. She did. They went up the stairs into Percy's old room. As Percy shut the door, Ginny turned to face him, still standing.

"Okay, Ginny, I understand that you're mad but—"

"Oh, I'm more than mad," she said through gritted teeth.

"Just let me explain. I got sucked into the ministry, and I'm sorry. I was young and ignorant, and I had no idea what was happening. I just wanted to keep our family safe."

"You weren't keeping us safe! You were abandoning us in our time of need. When we all needed each other the most, you just left!" Ginny's eyes were filling with tears.

"I didn't walk out on you. I thought I was doing the right thing. I-I couldn't stay here. Our family was named as blood traitors. I couldn't have that on my record!"

"So you thought leaving your family was the best solution?! How…why…what gave you the right?! Mum cried at the very mention of your name, and Dad was also a mess. You tore our family apart!"

"I didn't know that it affected you all so much—"

"You didn't think it would _affect_ us? You betrayed your own brothers! You broke Mum and Dad's hearts. That didn't mean anything to you?!"

Percy took a step toward his sister, "Ginny, I don't think this is about them," when she didn't respond, he added, "I think this is about you. What are you keeping bottled up?"

"It's about all of us!" Ginny shouted, looking up at Percy, "Stop trying to make me the victim. You don't know me!"

He tried putting a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off. "I know you enough to see that you do believe you're the victim. What is it?"

Ginny looked into his eyes, trying to get the words out. His eyes were pleading, but she couldn't give in, wouldn't. So much anger was bottled up inside her, threatening to explode any second. She struggled, but her emotions got the better of her. With every force of energy in her body, Ginny thrust her hand forward and shoved Percy to the ground.

"You left me!" she shrieked, "You were the only one I had left, and you deserted me!" The tears flowed over her eyes and streamed down her burning red cheeks. Percy looked apprehensively at his agonizing sister.

Not able to find any other words, she crumpled to the wood floor. Percy picked himself up and moved next to her.

"Ginny, where is this coming from? You had plenty of brothers."

"I didn't," she croaked, "Bill was now with Fleur and farther from home. Charlie was in Romania. Fred and George had their own place. And Ron was God knows where. I was all alone and vulnerable, and you left me!"

"Oh Ginny, I had no idea," he said, putting his arms around her. She tried to shrug him off, but she just didn't have the energy to fight anymore.

Hating herself every second that her tears came out, she cried into his shoulder, "How could you do that to me?"

Percy hugged her tighter and said, "I was your big brother and I let you down. For that, I am truly sorry. But listen," he paused and picked up her head in his hands, so they made eye contact, "from now on, I swear to you that no matter what happens, I will always be there for you. Believe me, I learned from my mistake."

Ginny hugged him again, "Just don't leave us again. I just can't handle it anymore when someone leaves."

"I love you so much, Ginny. I will never do that to you again."

"I love you too, Perce." Ginny felt relieved to finally get a chance to say those words again.

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After Ginny washed up, she went back downstairs to join the others. It felt so good to be with family again. She had missed them all being under the same roof. It rarely happened anymore. But there was something missing.

As everyone sat down at the magically enlarged table, she scanned everyone, trying to figure out who was left out. She counted only five brothers. Who was missing? She went down the line again until she realized who it was. She mentally kicked herself for being so blind.

"Where's Fred?"

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**O_o**

**Uh oh…**


	4. Earthquake

**So sorry or the wait! This chapter was hard to write.

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**Chapter Three: Earthquake**

The room went silent. Someone would have thought everyone in the room had stopped breathing from the stillness; although, this wasn't very far from the truth.

"Well, where is he?" Ginny asked again, "Is he right behind me…" she quickly turned her head to check if he was sneaking up behind her. He wasn't there. She looked back to the people before her. She didn't meet anyone's eyes; they all seemed to be avoiding eye contact. When she glanced over at her parents, she gasped. They had the most depressed looks Ginny had ever seen. Her mother looked at though she might cry. Arthur looked gravely at Molly and gripped her hand.

"Wh-what's going on?" Her parent weren't giving away any information, so she turned to her brothers. They all seemed to be looking at George. George himself was looking at the floor. Ginny was growing impatient. Obviously there was something serious going on that they didn't want her to know about.

Seeing that no one else was going to talk, Bill took the role of oldest brother and was the first to speak.

"Ginny, Fred…" he seemed to be struggling to find the right words, "…er, he—"

"Maybe I should just show her," Harry said quickly, cutting Bill off. He stood up as he got curious looks.

George looked up, his face desolate, except for a hint of curiosity, "How?"

"I have a pensive at home. I could show her… what happened." Harry looked at Arthur, who nodded. Then Harry walked over to Ginny.

"Hold on tight, Gin," He whispered. Ginny looked curiously at him. He smiled, raised his wand, and at once Ginny felt as though she was suddenly being jerked forward. She tried opening her eyes, but all that she knew was blackness. She felt as though something was pushing into her from all sides. Then, as suddenly as the feeling came, it was gone. She fell onto what felt like a carpet. She opened her eyes and found herself on the ground of someone's living room.

"Welcome home, Ginny."

Ginny looked at Harry incredulously, "This…this is our house?" It wasn't anything glamorous, but Ginny instantly fell in love with it. It had a very homey feeling. The living room had washed out light tan woven carpet, upon which Ginny and Harry were standing. There was one sofa and a loveseat, both a plum color, with reddish-violet cushions. In the center of the room was a little ebony table. There was a fireplace behind them, with a trim the same color as the table. The walls were painted a light gray, which was chic, but still welcoming. The wall on the right was home to a large window with curtains that matched perfectly with the cushions, tying the whole room together. To the right of the living room was the front door. Across from the door were the stairs, leading up to a second story. Ginny couldn't make out what room was to the left; the lights were off. All in all, it was a very nice house.

Across from the living room seemed to be some kind of work space. Harry began leading her that way. There was a desk, with loads of paper and other rubbish that Ginny didn't try to identify. She guessed that it was Harry's desk. In the corner was a large, bowl-shaped object. As they moved closer, she saw the silver liquid. She identified the object as a pensive.

Harry put his wand to the side of his head ad pulled out a string of silver. Once the thread was completely out, he dropped it in the liquid. He turned to her and asked, "Have you ever used a pensive?" Ginny shook her head. "Okay, all you have to do is, sort of dive into it. Just lean forward over the top and you'll be sucked in. It doesn't hurt or anything." He moved to the left, giving Ginny room. She looked into the swirling liquid and leaned forward, just as Harry instructed. Immediately, she felt as though she was being pulled into the pensive. It wasn't as jolty as the apparition; it was more like guiding her into the pensive. At first, there was silver all around her, and then it rapidly morphed to reveal her new surroundings. There were brown, worn out walls around her, and a cement floor. It looked as though she was at Hogwarts. In an instant, Harry was beside her. As soon as he appeared, a shot of red sparks were headed their way.

"LOOK OUT!" Ginny screamed, ducking and pulling Harry down with her. It was then that she began hearing and seeing all of the commotion. There were sparks of red and green flying all over the place. People were screaming, yelling out war cries and curses, things were falling and shattering; it was utter chaos. Crawling, Ginny and Harry made their way behind a short wall.

"Harry, what the hell is going on?" Ginny said in a horrified voice, "Where did you take me?"

"I took you to one of my memories."

"We're _in_ your memory?" Harry nodded and Ginny took a quick survey around, "Is this the night when Dumbledore…"

"No, no it's not that. This is a year later. This is what you missed."

As curse flew past them and Ginny yelped. Harry put a hand on her shoulder and said, "It's okay Ginny. Nothing can touch us here. You don't have to hide or dodge the curses."

As another curse flew by, Ginny replied, "I think I would feel more comfortable back here." Harry nodded and looked past her. She turned around and looked for whatever everyone wanted her to see. In one corner of the corridor, a couple of Death Eaters were being fought off by some men Ginny didn't recognize. A few students ran through the scene. She heard a scream somewhere in the distance. It was all horrible, to see her school, her second home, turning into a war zone, but she couldn't believe that this chaos was the thing she _needed _to see.

"Harry, what am I supposed to be looking for?" she said, looking back at him. He pointed to the right. Ginny followed his direction and saw him. She saw Harry, not the man standing next to him, but the boy she remembered. He was followed by Ron, Hermione, Malfoy, and Goyle. Their faces were black and robes were seared. "What happened—"Ginny stopped as she saw Fred and Percy back into the corridor, battling two Death Eaters. Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed forward and began shooting spells at them. As one of the Death Eaters stepped back, his hood fell off. Percy seemed to recognize this man because he yelled, "Hello, Minister! Did I mention I'm resigning?"

The minister and Fred's death eater both collapsed as they were shot at by spells from the five. As they fell, Fred was laughing, "You're joking, Perce! You actually _are_ joking, Perce."

Ginny smiled. It was nice to see her brothers getting along. Fred and George never really got along with Percy, but it seemed as though everything can change in the heat of the battle. And Fred seemed to have forgiven Percy. She decided if Fred could forgive him, she should as well. It looked as though everything was going to be okay.

Suddenly, her smile vanished as her dreams fell apart right before her eyes.

"…I don't think I've heard you joke since you were—" Fred was cut off as the wall behind them exploded. Everyone and everything went flying. Ginny shielded her face, but then remembered she didn't need to. She looked back at the scene before her. There was smoke, dust, and debris everywhere. There were screams and the sounds of rocks crumbling onto each other. Then Ginny heard a loud, painful grunt that made her stomach turn over. It sounded as though someone had seriously gotten injured. Her brothers were down there. Ginny's heart pounded in anxiousness.

The dust was clearing, but before she could see anything, she heard a gut-wrenching cry that caused Ginny's heart to stop all together.

"No — no — no!" Percy bawled in agony, "No! Fred! No!"

Ginny screamed. Harry gripped her arm so she wouldn't break out and run.

"FRED!" She was pulling away from him, but he held on. "Fred—Harry, let go of me! I have to see if he's okay! Please! Fred!!" She was struggling and crying out for her brother.

Harry tried calming her down, though he was having a hard time himself. He had tried to never revisit that painful memory and this was just another stab at his forever wounded heart. "Ginny, there's nothing we can do. We're not really here. There's nothing you can do for him," he said, repeating was he had said to a different Weasley on that fateful night.

She might as well have not heard him. She was still struggling. "I have to go down there! I need to see him…"She was sobbing, her pulls becoming weaker. This couldn't be happening. This whole mess is probably all a dream. She's really just asleep in the common room, waiting to be woken up by Collin. She still had herbology homework she had to do. They would probably do it together.

But Ginny became speechless as the dust cleared and she was able to focus on her brothers. Her body stopped moving and it seemed as the whole world was suddenly going in slow motion.

_And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred's eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face._

Ginny screamed and buried her face in Harry's body. She couldn't look at it. It wasn't _right_. Fred couldn't die. He just…couldn't. How could this have happened? Fred was always there. He was her brother, her support system. He and George were two halves of a whole. She let out a heavy sob as another thought crossed her mind. How would George react? He wasn't even with Fred when he… Ginny refused to let the words form in her mind.

"Ginny," Harry said quietly, but with difficulty, "we have to go now. I'm going to take you out of the pensive, alright? We can't do anything for him now." She didn't respond, so Harry picked her up in a standing position. In an instant, she felt like she couldn't breath and pulled her head out of the pensive. She looked around; they were back in Harry's house. Ginny fell to the ground and cried quietly, holding herself, Fred's lifeless face scarred in her mind.

"Ginny?" Harry said. He kneeled down and put his arm around her.

She was silent for a long while when she finally whispered, "T-take me to the Burrow."

He nodded. "We could floo this time." He rubbed her shoulder, indicating that she should stand up. She did, and she stepped toward the fireplace. Ginny didn't move, so Harry went first. He spoke the words and green flames engulfed his body. Then he was gone. Ginny took the sand, threw it into the hearth and stepped into the flames.

"The Burrow," she said, in a clear, but wavering voice. In a matter of seconds, she found herself in the Burrow. As she stepped out of the hearth and faced her family, she felt as though she was in a dream. Nothing seemed real. She couldn't bear to lay her eyes on George's face, so she kept her gaze to the wooden floor.

One and all watched her with concerned eyes. No one spoke. They didn't know what to say. Each one of them had their time to break down after Fred's death, and they helped each other through it. But this was different. Ginny, their baby, was hurting inside, in a way no one would ever be able to know.

Wordlessly, Ginny crossed the room and went up the stairs. She wasn't stopped; they let her go. She needed time alone.

-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-

Ginny curled up into a ball under her covers. She hugged herself, though she didn't feel any better.

Again she had the feeling that none of this was real. How could it be real? This wasn't the world she knew. In the world she knew, she had six brothers that would always be there for her. At least that's what they constantly told her. They would never leave her. They were her support system and her protectors. She couldn't imagine a world where one of them was missing. It just didn't, couldn't exist. Now that Fred was gone, reality was hitting her. They were all eventually going to leave her, one by one. The thought made it feel as though her heart was shriveling up.

Ginny fell asleep that night, feeling more lost and vulnerable than ever before.


	5. Drought

**Wow, this is probably the longest chapter I have every wrote…

* * *

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**Chapter Four: Drought**

The next morning, Ginny sat in her bed, hugging her knees. She kept having flashbacks of the previous night's occurrences. The most haunting picture that repeatedly crept into Ginny's mind was Fred's face, watching the joy slowly leave it. That image would stay with Ginny forever. How could she have not remembered _this_? Her brother was…dead. Her eyes welled with tears as realization hit her. There was no denying it. Fred was dead. She would never be able to see him or talk to him again.

What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't just go back to her normal life. Well, she wouldn't be able to do that anyway. Her life was completely different. This world she woke up in was different. Nothing made sense. Everything was happening so fast, and she had the ominous feeling that she didn't even know the half of it. What else did she not know? Whatever it was, it could never be as bad as this.

There was a knock at the door. Ginny didn't bother looking up as Molly poked her red head through the door.

"How are you feeling, Gin?" she said sympathetically. When Ginny didn't answer, Molly brought the rest of her body into the room. She was carrying a tray of breakfast, comprising of toast, orange jam, and cold milk. She set it down on the nightstand and took a seat on the bed near Ginny's feet.

There was a long silence, where the two women simply tried seeking comfort in each others presence. Molly was tracing the pattern on Ginny's quilt, while Ginny laid her head on her knees, trying to clear her mind. As much as she tried, her heartache wouldn't go away, and it wasn't just her heart that was hurting. Her whole body felt tender and hurt every time she cringed at the image of Fred's face. It was as if her body was trying to reject the truth.

"I just can't believe he's gone," she croaked, her voice going in and out of a whisper.

"Oh Ginny," Molly cried, putting her arms around her daughter, "Honey, I know this is hard for you."

"It's not just hard, it's unbearable." She mumbled, closing her eyes and absorbing her mother's embrace.

Molly rubbed Ginny's back soothingly and said, "You're strong, Ginny. You've proven strength, in ways I could never have imagined. You'll get through this. I know you will."

"How?" she whispered desperately, "I'm stuck in this deep dark hole, just waiting for someone, something, to pull me out."

"You'll find a way, Ginny. You always do."

Her mother sounded so sure, but Ginny still had doubts.

* * *

She didn't come out of her room for the whole day, unless she was going to the bathroom. Her mother constantly brought her food, but Ginny barely nibbled any of it. She was depressed, and couldn't find any reason to do anything. Fred brought life to the Burrow, and now he was gone. It was as though he took the fire out of Ginny.

Her family almost couldn't bare it. They had all suffered from the loss of Fred, but in the end, they were able to move on with their lives. They never forgot about him, they were just able to suppress their grief, each in their own way. Now, it was as though Ginny had brought back the ghost of Fred's past. It was as though a cloud hung over the Burrow.

By the next day, Ginny still hadn't gotten out of her bed.

"This can't go on," Molly said, as the family, save Ginny, sat around the kitchen table, "Ginny is a grown adult now. She can't stay in bed for the rest of her life."

"Molly, she doesn't exactly know that she is a grown adult yet," Harry said, "In her mind, she's still sixteen."

"Well, she is 24 and it's time she acted like it," Molly said, getting up.

"Mum," George interjected. Molly paused and waited for her third son to speak. George hesitated, then continued, looking determined, "Let me talk to her. I should be the one to do it."

Molly nodded, and George left the room. He walked up the stairs, almost in a trance. He had spent the past 8 years trying to avoid thinking about Fred. Now it was as though he was walking right up to him, finally facing him. He had no idea what he was going to Ginny, but he knew this was something they both needed.

He approached her room and opened her door, slowly. She was sitting on her bed, her knees close to her, as she laid her hands on top of them. In this position, his mind flashed back to teenage Ginny. This is how she used to always place herself when she was depressed.

"How did you do it?" she spoke so softly it could have been a mouse, but George heard her.

"How did I do…?"

"He was your twin, your other half. How did you get past the grief of losing him?"

"Honestly, Ginny," he said, stepping toward her bed, "I have no idea. Every time I think of him, my heart ties up and I want to disappear."

"How do you get yourself out of bed every morning. It's so hard for me, I can't even fathom how you do it."

"It is hard for me. I just…try not to dwell on the tragedy." He was standing at the foot of her bed now.

Ginny scrunched her face up, trying to figure out the best way to get her point across. "But how can you just…let go of him?"

Before George could place his words together, the words started flowing out, "Ginny, none of us ever let go of him. That's part of his memory. You don't have to forget about him. You should remember him and all of the good about him. You shouldn't dwell on the fact that you'll never see him again. That is the only thing keeping you from getting on with your life.

"You know, I spent almost an entire week without leaving my room here. I couldn't even go back to our apartment because I thought it would be too painful. Everyone tried cheering me up. You each took a stab at trying to get me to come out. I spent that whole week wallowing in my own misery and loneliness. Finally, after some thinking, I was able to face the world."

Ginny was looking at George, absorbed in his monologue. "What were you thinking about?" she said quietly.

"I was thinking about how…I had Fred by my side for my entire life. Once he was gone, I didn't know what to do with myself. I was hiding because I didn't think I could live without him. I didn't know how to, dare I say it, be myself. I felt as though I had lost my support system, the one person I could fall back on. But then I realized that I couldn't spend the rest of my life hiding. I thought that maybe this was my chance, to be somebody, not just the second half of 'Fred and George'. Fred was giving me a chance, and I couldn't let him down. Even though he'd be honored that I was letting my world fall apart over him, he'd also be pretty embarrassed that his twin was such a sissy that he was hiding from the world."

"Wow, George, I didn't know you could be so…deep," Ginny said, smiling.

"Merlin, Ginny! Did I just see you smile? We have to call the Daily Prophet about this one!"

Ginny chuckled as George sat down next to her on the bed and put his arm around her.

"And when all else fails, I just remember that now my ear doesn't have to sit so lonely up there."

Ginny laughed again and pulled her brother into a hug. "Thanks George. Believe it or not, I feel a lot better now."

"Believe it or not, so do I."

* * *

After a few more minutes, George and Ginny made their way downstairs, much the relief of their mother. Harry and baby James were waiting for them.

"Hi Ginny," Harry said as she approached him, "How are you holding up?"

"Pretty good, considering," she replied, then turned to the baby in his arms, "Hello James!" she said in a high pitched voice. James beamed at her and held out his arms. She looked at Harry, "Is it okay if I…"

"Gin, you don't have to ask permission to hold your own son," he said, giving James to her.

"I can't take this anymore!" Everyone turned at the sound of Molly's exclamation, "We've waited long enough. I have to invite the family over for dinner tonight." Molly was practically glowing with excitement. " Ginny, come help me in the kitchen. Harry, could you call everyone and tell them to be here around six?"

"Sure, Molly," Harry said. Ginny started following her mother to the kitchen when she saw Harry take a small device out of his pocket. It was small enough to fit comfortably into Harry's palm. Ginny had never seen it before. It was gray and rectangular, with a tiny pole sticking out of the top. There was a flap that Harry flipped out and began pushing buttons on it.

"What _is_ that?!" Ginny said, turning around back to Harry. She laid her eyes on the mind-boggling mechanism.

"It's my mobile phone," Harry said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Then his eyes widened with realization, "You have no idea what this is, do you?"

"Not a clue." She stepped toward Harry, still balancing James on her hip.

Harry held the phone out sp she could see that each button had a little number and even smaller letters on them. "Each person has their own number. You just dial the number of the person you want to call, and you can talk to them through the speaker. They were invented by Muggles a while back and were brought to the wizarding world a few years ago."

"That's incredible." Ginny said, awestruck. She had never seen or heard of anything like a mobile phone before.

"You have one too," Harry said as Ginny admired his phone, "It's at our house with the rest of your things." He laughed internally at the amazed face Ginny was making. "Do you want to try calling someone?" he suggested.

She nodded eagerly. She held James out for Harry to hold. He chuckled.

"Gin, you can put him on the ground. He knows how to walk."

"Oh, right." She blushed, embarrassed by her own ignorance. She carefully placed James on the floor and took the phone from Harry.

"Alright, dial 01923 804444." Ginny did so, then held the phone in front of her, waiting for something to happen.

"Gin, you're supposed to hold it up to your ear." Harry took the phone and put it next to her ear. She held it there and listened to the buzzing sound coming from the speaker. Suddenly, the buzzing stopped and a voice spoke.

"Hello?"

Ginny gasped. Ron's voice was coming from the phone. "Is…is this Ron?" she asked hesitantly. There was no way this was really Ron. It was impossible.

"Yes. Who is this?"

"Is it really you?"

"Who the bloody hell are _you_?" It sounded exactly like Ron. Ginny clutched the phone, not believing what she was hearing. Ron was talking to her, through a little machine.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"Who am I talking to?!"

"It Ginny, you prat!" she said irritably, ignoring George's snickers behind her, "Answer the question!"

"What question?"

"Where are you?" Ginny said, trying to be patient with him. It seems eight years didn't affect her brother's infuriatingly slow memory.

"I'm at my house. Why?"

"Amazing…" she whispered. He was in a completely different building, and he was talking to her as if they were standing right next to each other.

"…Are you okay Gin?" he said.

"It's just that this is my first time using a…" she looked at Harry. He mouthed the words to her, and she continued, "…a mobile phone."

"Merlin, you forgot about mobile phones?!" He sounded amused.

"Yes," she said sheepishly. She figured she'd better get used to the feeling, seeing how this whole memory loss situation was turning out.

"So you don't remember ever using a mobile phone?"

"No, I think we've established that."

"Blimey…"

"Well, Mum wants you to come over for dinner tonight. She's inviting the whole family."

"Oh, it's one of _those_?" She heard Ron groan.

"What do you mean 'one of _those'_?"

"Well, it doesn't happen very often that all of us are under one roof at once. It gets a bit hectic. And I'm a bit tired of Mum always getting on about how I should start acting like a proper gentleman now that I'm married. Well, I guess we'll see you tonight. See you Gin."

"Wait, you're _what_?!" Ginny yelled, shocked. Did he just say he was married?

He didn't respond.

"Ron? Ron!" He still wasn't responding. "Did you just say you got married?! Ron, answer me!"

"Er, Ginny," Harry said, taking the phone from her, "I think he hung up."

"What do you mean?"

"He ended the call, turned off his phone." He looked as though he was trying to stifle a laugh. George on the other hand, had no problem letting out a booming laugh.

Ginny ignored him. Instead, she questioned Harry. "What's all this about Ron being married?!"

"Oh, he and Hermione got married about a year and a half ago."

Ginny face lit up. "I _knew_ it would be Hermione! There was no way they could stay away from each other."

"…Or stay off each other…" George mumbled, laughing quietly to himself.

Harry smiled, "There wasn't really any surprise when they announced their engagement."

"So is anyone else married that I should know about?" At this, Harry immediately looked at George. Ginny followed his gaze and gasped. "George! You got—"

"No, I'm not married," he said quickly, "at least not yet."

"What do you mean?"

George looked hesitant, but then reluctantly said, "I want to propose to Angelina."

"Angelina? Angelina Johnson?! You two are dating?"

George smiled and moved his eyebrows up and down. Ginny laughed, then caught herself. Fred and George always did that to make Ginny laugh. It dawned on her that she would never be able to see Fred do that ever again.

"Gin, are you okay?"

She looked up, apparently her face looked hurt, because both men were looking at her with concerned faces. "It's nothing. Just a memory."

"Ginny, where are you?!" Molly's voice was heard loud and clear from the kitchen.

"I'd better go before Mum loses her voice," she said, rushing to the kitchen.

As she strode in, she saw that Molly already had a pot of water boiling on the stovetop and mountains of food on the table. Molly looked up from the recipe book she was perusing and gestured to a mound of potatoes, "I need you to cut these then put them in the pot." Ginny nodded and got to work. She found a knife and a cutting board (thankfully her mother hadn't rearranged the kitchen in the last eight years), and took a seat at the table. Molly went back to her recipes.

As Ginny was cutting through her fifth potato, she heard her mother say, "Ginny, what on earth are you doing?" Ginny turned back to her mother, clueless as to what she was doing wrong.

"Use your wand!" she said loudly. She didn't sound irritable, rather she ad a laugh in her voice.

Ginny flushed scarlet. Of course! She wasn't underage anymore. She whipped out her wand and pointed it at the pile. Now what? She racked her brain, trying to think of a spell. Then it occurred to her that she never learned a spell for cutting vegetables. She didn't want to look like an idiot by asking her mother, so she tried the best thing she could think of.

"_Diffindo"_ she chanted and tapped the pile. Although, as she did so, the entire table broke in two, spilling all of the food onto the floor. Molly screamed and looked at the mess.

"Ginny! What did you do?!"

"I-I used the severing charm…"

Molly ran over to the table. "Why would you use a severing charm?"

"I didn't know what else to use! I don't know anything past sixth year charms."

Molly rubbed her forehead, "Well then I can tell you that this is going to be one long year. Can I assume that you know the fixing charm?"

Ginny nodded and began cleaning up the mess.

* * *

Three hours and one fixed dinner table later, there was a knock at the door. Ginny went to answer it; she opened the door to find Ron and Hermione. Immediately she scooped them into a hug.

"Congratulations! You never told me you two got married!"

"Hello to you too Ginny," Ron said, trying to escape from his sister's embrace. Finally Ginny let go. Ron took his and Hermione's jackets off, put them in the coat closet, and went into the kitchen to say hello to his mother.

Ginny turned to Hermione, "I'm so happy for you two. So, what was the wedding like? Did you have a big or small one?"

"I'll show you the photo album sometime," Hermione replied, frowning.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Ginny put her hand on Hermione's shoulder.

"I'm fine. I've been feeling a bit under the weather," she said with a pained expression.

"Do you want to sit down?" Ginny began leading Hermione to the sofa, leaving the door open. As the two were sitting down, they heard a knock and turned to see a tall, black girl come in. She looked very familiar to Ginny.

"…Angelina?" she exclaimed with realization.

"Hello Ginny," Angelina said, taking off her coat, "I heard about your accident. Are you sure your alright?"

"Well, I'm fine except for the fact that I can't remember anything for the past eight years."

"Right, George told me about that. I can't imagine what that must feel like!" She took a seat next to the women, "Where is George anyway?"

"_He_ is right here," George said, announcing his entrance. He walked over to Angelina ad swept her up in a long kiss. Ginny almost felt as though she should turn away. She had never seen George kiss anyone except their mother.

There was another knock at the door. George went to open it and made an exclamation as he did so.

"Teddy!" Then he was knocked over by a little boy with spiky neon blue hair. The two then proceeded in a play wrestling match before standing back up and letting Harry come in through the doorway. They all walked into the den.

"Hi Ginny!" The boy ran up to Ginny and engulfed her in a tight hug.

"Er, hi," Ginny said awkwardly. She looked at Harry for an explanation.

"This is Teddy," Harry said, catching on, "Remus and Tonks's son?"

"You're kidding!" she looked at Teddy, flabbergasted. He was so big! The last time she saw him, he was just a little blue haired baby. He had really grown.

"She knows who I am!" he said to Harry.

"I just didn't recognize you, Teddy," she said to him, still amazed that Tonks's eight year old son was standing right before her. As she was gawking at Teddy, yet another knock was heard. This time Harry opened it.

"Well, look who it is!" As he said this, two girls ran in and hugged him.

"Uncle Harry!" The older girl, who probably wasn't older than six, had long, silky red hair, and a face with very sharp features.

"Unca awwy!" The younger toddler had silvery blond hair, and a delicate, long face. The most clear assumption she could make is that these girls were Bill and Fleur's daughters. Just as she suspected, the couple walked in a few seconds later. Only moments after everyone said hello, Molly called everyone in for dinner.

Molly was absolutely beaming as they all sat down at the table. Aside from Hogwarts, Ginny couldn't think of any table that had the number of people that sat before her.

"I can't believe how large our family has grown," she said, moving her eyes over her husband, son, godson, parents, brothers, sister-in-laws, and nieces.

As Harry looked at his wife, he raised his glass. "A toast, to our beautiful family."

Everyone raised their glasses and the room was filled with the ring of china.

"Hermione, are you okay?" someone said.

Ginny shifted her gaze to Hermione who was uneasily looking at her glass of whiskey. Suddenly, her eyes went awry and she began falling out of her chair.

"HERMIONE!" Ron thrust his arm out to save his wife from the fall. When he lifted her head, her eyes were closed, fainted.

* * *

**There it is! Hope y'all liked it. Thanks so much for keeping up with this fic. See you next time!**


	6. Tsunami

**Chapter Five: Tsunami**

Ginny heaved an impatient sigh as she lifted the untouched plates off of the table. As she walked over the cupboard, she looked at the clock for about the fifteenth time. It had been 45 minutes since Ron left with Hermione to St. Mungo's and they hadn't heard anything yet. Ginny placed the dishes back in their rightful spot and sat back down at the head of the table. She began fiddling with a napkin; she had to do something to keep herself busy or she would probably go crazy.

Everyone else had retreated to other parts of the house, but Ginny didn't want to leave. They had been so happy and festive. In one moment, everything had fallen apart. This seemed to be a reoccurring situation ever since Ginny's accident. When she witnessed Fred's death, he had been laughing and patching up things with Percy. They were going to be alright, but then the wall collapsed. Then tonight, they were having a toast, smiling, admiring their family and for once, Ginny seemed as though she would be able to get through all this. Then Hermione was rushed to the hospital. It was as though the fates were trying to take all chances of happiness away from her.

"It's maddening, isn't it?"

Ginny jumped as Bill spoke. She looked up and saw him standing at the other end of the table. He walked over and took the seat right next to his sister.

"I feel so helpless, just sitting here, waiting for someone to come and break horrible news to me." Ginny said, keeping her eyes on her napkin.

Bill let a slight laugh. Ginny gave him a quizzical look, to which he explained himself, "It's just that a week ago we were all sitting at home waiting to hear news from the hospital about you. It's like déjà vu." Ginny nodded. It was still strange to think she had suffered a terrible accident that she had no memory of. They both grew silent, absorbed in their own thoughts.

"Bill?" Ginny suddenly said quietly. Bill set his eyes on her. "Did something… happen to our family?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's just something that Ron said. I was telling him about tonight and he gave the impression that we don't get together often. Also, Mum was really excited about tonight, like it was some kind of holiday. Did we lose touch or something? Percy and Charlie aren't even here."

Bill looked hesitant before saying, "That's because we haven't been seeing each other a lot. This week has actually been the most we've all seen each other in a long time. We've all just gone our separate ways."

Ginny was taken aback by this bit of information. "But that's impossible. We're the Weasleys! We don't drift apart."

"Well, we have. Sorry Gin, but did you really expect us to spend all of our lives at the Burrow? "

Ginny stopped fiddling with her napkin, giving Bill her full attention, "How did this happen?"

Bill looked down to his lap. This seemed like a touchy subject, but Ginny didn't let it go. She needed to know how her family became so separated. She kept her eyes on her brother.

Finally, he looked up with a pained expression. "It started when Charlie left."

"What do you mean by _left_?"

"After the battle at Hogwarts, Charlie wouldn't come home; he wouldn't even visit. I flooed him about the battle, but by the time he got here, it was too late. The battle was over and Fred was already gone. He was devastated, and thought it was his fault for not being there. He moped around the house for a week, but after Fred's funeral, Charlie decided to go back to Romania. He couldn't stand anymore funerals, and he couldn't stand being here, with Fred's memory looming over him" Bill stopped, and peered over at his sister, "Ginny, are you alright?"

Ginny shook her head, as she wiped her wet eyes. She wasn't completely crying though, just tearing up. "It's not right. _Fred's Funeral_. Those words should never be together. How could someone like Fred have a funeral?"

Bill moved closer to Ginny and put his arm around her, "I know what you mean, Gin. It isn't right." They sat like that for a few seconds, before Ginny began rubbing her eyes, collecting herself.

"I'm sorry. I feel so stupid. I'm falling apart over things that happened so long ago. It's just like I'm waking up in a completely different world."

"It's okay, Gin. You're allowed to feel bad. We all had our times to break down. Don't think any less of yourself just because you shed a tear."

"So, after Charlie left…?" Ginny said, indicating that he should continue with the story.

"That's it. He left and didn't come back until Vicky was born. Then he came for your wedding, Dominique's and James's birth. When he came by earlier this week, it had been the first time in a year. He almost wasn't going to come until we told him that you had been unconscious for two days."

"But why won't he come back? What's he afraid of?"

"It's not that he's afraid. He is ashamed that he couldn't have helped in the battle, and indirectly, he wasn't able to save Fred. He couldn't bear to be around all of us and not Fred."

Ginny furrowed her eyebrows as she inquired, "And he _still_ feels that way? It's been eight years."

"Yes, but believe it or not, Fred's death hit him the hardest, save George. He pretty much missed the last year of Fred's life. He missed out on a lot."

"That doesn't give him the right to just run away like that."

"You're right Gin. We've tried talking to him, but he won't budge. We've all given up on him."

Ginny sighed and looked down; absorbing what Bill had just told her. As she sat with her thoughts, she heard a faint pop and exclamations from the other room. She and Bill both got up and went into the den. They entered to find the rest of the family along with Ron and Hermione. Much to everyone's surprise, Hermione was beaming with Ron had the goofiest smile painted across his face.

"So, what happened?" George asked.

Hermione looked as though she was about to explode with joy and she announced, "I'm pregnant!!"

The room burst into shouts of surprise and congratulations.

"Ronnie is going to be a father!" Molly exclaimed.

"Ron is going to be a father?!" George bellowed.

"Welcome to the club, Mate," Harry said, clapping his brother-in-law on the back, "How do you feel?"

"Honestly? This is the best I've ever felt," Ron said, the smile never leaving his face, "I can almost hear it's innocent little cries right now."

From a distance, there _was_ a cry. Everyone looked at each other until Harry broke into laughter.

"It's only James. I think he woke from his nap," and with that Harry started toward the stairs.

"Harry, can I come with you?"

He looked back at the voice of his wife. Ginny strode over to him and the couple went up the stairs and into Bill's old room. As Ginny stepped in, she let out a gasp. The once red and gold, Gryffindor embellished bedroom was now a cute and cuddly nursery. The wallpaper was decorated with little broomsticks and snitches. There was a rocking chair in one corner, a changing table and crib. There was a mobile in the crib with hangings of a broom and each kind of quidditch ball. Ginny let out a little giggle. Harry looked at her for an explanation.

She sighed. "I guess it's true that one is never too young to be a fan of quidditch. Please tell me I wasn't part of this mania."

Harry chuckled, "No, I put this together for your mum while you were pregnant with him. No son of mine is going to live any part of his life without quidditch." _Pregnant. _It sounded so…weird to Ginny. She had been pregnant and didn't remember a thing about it. She had given birth! She and Harry had… Ginny shuddered. She didn't really want to think about that right now. She turned her attention to the bri where Harry was lifting the one-year old into his arms.

"Mummy!" he said, extending his short arms toward Ginny. She looked down at the James…her son.

As she took him from Harry, she mumbled, "This is crazy. My son knows me but has no idea that I don't know him." Harry laughed, but Ginny looked at him with a stern face. "I'm serious, Harry! I'm sixteen. I don't know how to be a mother."

"Ginny, you are 24 years old and the best mother I know."

She looked at Harry with concerned eyes. "Harry, I'm in way over my head here. I haven't finished school or taken my NEWTs. I don't remember being pregnant at all, or even getting married to you. My family isn't what it used to be. I feel like I'm on an alien planet. I keep learning new crazy things that don't make any sense. I just want to crawl in my bed and pretend this whole thing is just one crazy dream."

"I don't think that's an option, Gin," Harry said, showing his one-of-a-kind smile.

Ginny grinned, but stopped herself. She didn't want to be nice to Harry. She couldn't let him win her over again with his charm. Instead, she held Harry to his former promise.

"So, you still haven't told me what happened."

"What happened when?"

"What happened with you-know-who?" She said impatiently. What else would she be talking about?!

"Oh well, he…erm, he died, If that's what you wanted to know."

Ginny let out a slow breath, processing his words as James played with her hair. "So…it's over; the war and everything?" Harry nodded, but Ginny was still skeptical. How could it just be over? It seemed so sudden.

"How did he die? What exactly happened that night that Fred…" Ginny paused, waiting for Harry to respond. And he did. He retold Ginny everything; how they met Aberforth Dumbledore, the diadem, the fiendfyre, how Snape was really on their side the whole time, the stone, how Harry sacrificed himself, then pretended to be dead, and finally about the Elder Wand and how he finally brought Voldemort down. Ginny remained silent the whole time, only speaking to clarify something. Even though James didn't understand anything his father was saying, he watched Harry with devoted eyes. Finally, when he stopped speaking, the room became silent and James had fallen asleep. Harry gazed over his wife's face, trying to read some kind of reaction. Her face was pensive.

"I-I don't know what to say," she stuttered. He had just poured out this astounding story that she couldn't imagine to be reality.

"What are you thinking about?"

"How many…" she started, but then rephrased her thought to, "Er, Who else...died?"

"Do you want me to just list everyone?" Harry said.

Ginny lifted her shoulders as she said, "There were _that_ many?"

"How about I take you to the Hogwarts Memorial tomorrow?" Harry suggested, "Everyone who died in battle was buried there. It'll also be a better…setting."

Ginny nodded, and the room fell into an awkward silence. This marriage thing was obviously going to take some getting used to.

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**It feels so abrupt to just end it like that, but I couldn't find a better spot. I'm not so sure I liked this chapter. What did you think?**


	7. Sandstorm

**Well that wait was a LOT longer than I wanted, but I'm back now, ready to write some chapters! I hope to get the story moving a bit faster. Thanks to all of you for sticking with this!**

**I want to make a note that I'm not going to try updating every week, or even every other week. My schedule has become really really crazy, so I'm not going to be able to have very frequent updates. But I am determined to see this story to the very end!**

**I feel like this chapter has some very strong but also very weak points, so just bear with me!

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**Chapter Six: Sandstorm**

The rest of the evening went somewhat smoothly without any other _huge_ surprises for Ginny. She spent the evening assessing everyone's relationship statuses and careers. Some things came as a shock, such as Ron being an auror. She knew he always wanted to be one, but she never thought he would have the grades for it. She was proud of him.

Among all of the new information, none was more shocking than the fact that she, Ginny Potter, was a former Holyhead Harpie. When Hermione absent-mindedly mentioned "…back when you were a Harpie…" Ginny stared open mouthed at her friend.

"What do you mean, 'when I was a Harpie'?" she confirmed, "You don't mean Holyhead Harpies… do you?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" Hermione exclaimed, "You were a chaser on the Holyhead Harpies for four years! You retired once James was born."

Ginny let out an astonished sigh. Suddenly a thought popped into her head. She opened her mouth to ask the question, but was unsure of what everyone would think of her. Hermione noticed the hesitation and motioned for Ginny to continue.

"Was I…er…famous?" she mumbled sheepishly. She shot her eyes around the room, waiting for a response. The room was silent for an instant, but at once everyone burst into laughter; except for Harry who was grinning in amusement. She blushed furiously.

"What's so funny?" she demanded.

"Of course your famous, Gin," Ron gasped between fits of laughter, "You're married to bloody Harry Potter!"

Ginny blushed an even deeper red (if that was possible) as she sunk into her seat. She hated feeling so naive.

Thankfully, that was the only real embarrassing moment Ginny had to deal with. Other than that, she thoroughly enjoyed herself. It had been so long (that she could remember; she had to keep reminding herself that her perception of time was way off) since she was able to be with her family, happy and healthy. It was 30 minutes to midnight by the time people started leaving. Dominique and James were asleep, while Victoire and Teddy walked around like zombies, insisting that they weren't tired. After some persuading by Fleur and whining by Victoire, Bill and his family left. They were shortly followed by Angelina. George retired to his room once they were gone.

Ginny sighed as she closed the door. She could see that the wonderful night was coming to a close, but she didn't want it to end. For once since the accident, it seemed as though she was going to be able to get through all this. She turned back to the living room to see her parent getting up.

"I think it best if we went to bed now," Arthur said, then turned to Teddy, "Come on Teddy, let's get you to bed." Now that Victoire was gone, Teddy didn't have any embarrassment in hanging his head in exhaustion as he followed Molly and Arthur up the stairs.

This left the Ginny alone with Harry for the second time today. They stood in the den, trying to wait out the awkward silence. Her mind was screaming at her to do _something_, but she desperately didn't want to be the one to break the silence.

Finally Harry spoke, "So, where do you, er, want to sleep tonight?"

Ginny's head snapped up, "What do you mean?"

"Well, do you want to sleep here again or are you ready to come home?"

Ginny's mind froze as it took her a moment to process what he was trying to ask her. "…Oh," was all she could say. She honestly didn't know how she was supposed to answer that. It occurred to her that she didn't live at the Burrow anymore. She lived in a different house… with James and Harry. She didn't live with her parents or her brothers. She really had to think about this. On one hand, it was almost a dream come true for Ginny to be free of her brothers breathing down her neck and her mother constantly nagging her about one thing or another. On the other hand, if a few minutes alone in room with Harry were this painfully awkward, she could only imagine living in the same house…and the same room _alone_ with him. Ginny's eyes grew wide as another thought crossed her mind. She would be sleeping in the same bed as him.

Maybe she shouldn't stay with him, at least not yet. She wasn't ready for anything like that. But would Harry be too hurt if she said no? Was he asking her simply as a formality when he really assumed she would have no problem, or was he really curious about how she felt about this? Was she supposed to decide this right now? It was a big decision. Should her mother be here to talk it over with her?

Ginny's train of thought suddenly came to a halt. She was making too much of a bid deal about this. She was not a sixteen year old girl deciding whether or not to move in with her boyfriend; she was a 24 year old mother deciding whether or not she was comfortable enough to go home with her husband. This was her life now. If she ever wanted a chance to get out of this amnesia stupor she would just have to go along with whatever this new life threw at her.

Ginny let out a sigh and quietly said, "I suppose I should go with you."

"Ginny, you don't have to so anything you don't want to for my sake," Harry said reassuringly, "I'm willing to do anything I can to help you get through this. We can take things slowly—"

"Harry," she interrupted. Harry immediately silenced himself and looked at his wife. "I appreciate you trying to protect me but if I ever want my life back, I'm going to have to fight for it. I'm learning fast. You don't have to baby me."

Harry sighed and smiled. "That's what I love about you, Gin. You never stop fighting." He moved in to give her a hug but she put her hand up to stop him.

"This doesn't change the fact that we're still broken up," she whispered, "I'm not sure I'm ready to let you back in."

Harry, who did not see this coming at all, dropped his hands to his sides. He opened his mouth, but closed it again. Unable to come up with any kind of response, he murmured something about James and started packing James's things.

Ginny looked down at her feet, partially regretting what she had just said. The words were out of her mouth before she could really think about them. All she knew was that the last time she checked, she and Harry were no longer together, let alone married. She was definitely not comfortable with being that close to him. It didn't matter to her that they had already been married for a few years. She realized she was probably being self-centered about this, but marriage was a huge thing. As far as she was concerned, he had left her to go on a suicide mission without even thinking about how much it would hurt her. After that, it would take a lot for her to let him back in.

Carrying a slumbering James, Harry motioned for Ginny to come over to the fireplace. As she walked toward him, she was suddenly aware of every movement Harry made. It was like after her first year, after he saved her from Tom Riddle's diary, when she wasn't sure how to act around him. They both knew they had shared that experience, that special connection, but it was something of the past and neither of them knew what to do with it.

Ginny was so deep in thought that she barely noticed the green flames enveloping her. The next thing she knew, she was in the house. She looked around her living room, suddenly in a daze. This was where she witnessed Fred being killed. This was the first thing she saw after coming tear-stricken out of the Pensieve. This was where she let Harry hold her while she wept for her deceased brother.

Ginny shook her head; she did not want to think about this. Not now.

"So where is our room?" she said in a steady voice. She was trying to sound open minded while the phrase "_our_ room" sounded completely unnatural. Harry led the way up the stairs. They opened up into a little hallway at which Harry paused and turned to her.

"I'm just going to put James in his crib. Our room is right across the hall," he said, pointing to a sand colored door, "You can go ahead— see if anything comes back."

"Okay," she said timidly. He nodded and went into James's room. Ginny turned to the opposite door, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and went in.

She was immediately hit with a blast of cold air. The room was a lot colder than the hallway. Harry must have left the window open. Ginny flinched as she was hit with déjà vu.

During the colder months of her sixth year at Hogwarts, she would open the window in her dormitory and let the coldness consume her. She would do this on those days when she felt most alone; days after being tortured by the Carrows for sticking up for a first or second year; days where everyone was so busy helping someone else that she was left by herself; days when she would accidentally let her guard down and wonder where Harry was, what he was doing, if he was even alive or not. She would open the window as wide as it would go and just sit there, letting the icy wind slap her face and bare arms until she couldn't even feel it anymore. The other girls in her dormitory hated it, but she didn't care. She stood in front of the window until she didn't care about anything anymore. Then, without closing the window, she would go to her bed and cry her eyes out until she could do nothing but fall asleep.

"Ginny, are you alright?" Harry's voice snapped Ginny out of her trance. She realized she was standing in front of the open window. She turned to see Harry standing next to her. He looked concerned.

"What happened? Did you remember something?" he said, putting his arm on her shoulder.

Ginny immediately pushed his arm away and glowered at him. "You bet I remembered something," she said grimly and walked toward the bed trying to fight back the tears from the past. Harry followed her and sat down with her.

"Ginny, did I do something to make you mad?"

"Now what gave you that idea—"

"Ginny this is just as hard for me as it is for you—"

"You did not just say that to me, Harry," Ginny said, enraged, "Are _you_ the one that lost eight years of your life? Are _you_ the one who has to completely start over? Did _you_ wake up one day in someone else's body? This is completely different for me. I have no idea who I am! I have no idea why I did the things that I supposedly did. I feel like I'm living in a completely different world!"

As she finished, her face crimson, she looked down, refusing to meet Harry's eyes. Harry, who had not seen this outburst coming, immediately swallowed down his comeback. Instead, he tried a different approach.

"Ginny, you never answered my question," he said timidly. She didn't respond, so Harry pushed further, "Why are you so angry with me? What did I do? I'm trying to help you just like everyone else—"

"Harry, can we please not talk about this now," Ginny said suddenly. She sounded as though she was about to break down into tears.

"Ginny, you can't keep running away from this. Obviously I did something to upset you, and we're never going to be able to get through this unless you tell me what I did wrong," He put his hand on her shoulder, and this time she didn't brush it off.

"You really don't remember?" she whispered coldly, "You have no idea what I could be upset about? Try thinking farther back. Anything ringing a bell?"

Harry raised his eyebrows at this. She must have been talking about something that happened when she was sixteen. He never realized that it could have been something from before that Ginny was angry about. He racked his brain trying to come up with the last conversation Ginny could be remembering. She said the last thing she remembered was being in the common room…of course. Harry closed his eyes as realization dawned on him. He now felt guiltier than ever.

"Is it because I left?" he said quietly, "Are you upset because I didn't take you, or because I took Ron from you? Is that why you're mad? Did you kiss Colin because you were angry with me?"

He waited apprehensively for an answer from Ginny. He was eager to break down this new wall between him and his wife. Finally she faced him and gazed into his eyes.

Looking into his beautiful face that she loved and hated most in the world, she couldn't help but flash back to the window, the cold, the pain, and the torture that she had to endure when he was gone. If he had stayed, they wouldn't have had to be apart. He could have helped her instead of leaving her to fend for herself. Maybe the war could have ended sooner, and she didn't have to see kids crying for their mothers in what was supposed to be the safest place in the world. Hogwarts wouldn't have become so broken if he had stayed. He would have been able to fix everything. She couldn't help but blame him for everything. He heart was now torn in all different directions. She longed for a way to make him understand what he had left behind when he, Ron, and Hermione left to go on their "mission".

"How could you?" she said, barely audible, "How could you abandon everyone when they needed you the most? Do you have any idea what we were going through?"

"Ginny, I am so sorry for that," he said, trying to sound as sincere as possible, "I can believe some of the things that happened to you, but it's all over now. If I had known…I never meant for those things to happen. And I sure as hell will never let anything like that happen again."

Ginny tried to think of something more to say, but she wasn't able to. If it was all over, why did she still feel hurt? Why was everything affecting her so much while everyone else has been so nonchalant about it? It seemed like everyone was screaming at her to just get past everything, but she couldn't do that.

"How am I supposed to do this Harry?" she whispered, "I don't know how I'm going to get through all of this. And I feel so hopeless because I am the only one having constant breakdowns and it feels like no one even cares because it all happened so long ago—"

"Now hang on, Ginny," Harry said, silencing her, "_I_ care. I care about everything you are going through. Even though you don't seem quite used to the idea, I am your husband and it is my job to help you through this. You can talk to me. I know I've made mistakes before, but can't you just accept that eight years has changed me? You married me, Ginny. Isn't that alone reason enough to trust me?" He took her hand, and to his relief, she held on. They sat like that for a while before Ginny finally broke the silence.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I'm sorry I've been so difficult. And I'm sorry I'm making you have to relive all of this again. I just want everything to be okay again."

Without even thinking, Harry pulled her into a hug. "I love you Gin," he breathed into her hair, "I love you more than anything. I'm so incredibly sorry that this is happening to you, but I'll be there for you. I'll always be there."

As Ginny let Harry hold her, she realized that she didn't have to keep her guard up around him anymore. He was going to be there for her and if there was anyone in the world who she wanted to break down in front of, it was Harry. It's always been Harry for her, and now she was finally able to have him. Without anything keeping her bottled up, she finally let her tears flow freely. She cried into Harry's shoulder for what seemed like hours and he never once stopped embracing her. He was willing to hold her all night until his wife was able to wash all of the troubles of the past away.

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**So there it is. I'm not really sure what happened there, I just typed what I felt was right. I hope you liked it. I'm sorry nothing really happened in that chapter, but a lot of feelings got out and I had to end it there or it would have been too long and you would have had to wait even longer. **

**Please leave a review and tell me how I did. I either nailed that ending, or I completely and irreversibly ruined it. Which is it?**


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